Ancient Gamer's News

Palladium in trouble

2006-04-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Due to the theft of about $800k - 1.3 mil, Palladium the company that brought us RIFTS, is in serious financial trouble.

To help, or just find out more, click here.

If you had any interest in their work, or projects, they desperately need your help.

Going Underground

2006-04-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm making a foray back into the days of Pen and Paper gaming.

The World's Largest Dungeon (WLD) has sucked me in, and the game is beging for my players next month. I have to admit, it's a big module, and considering it's almost 900 pages, it's fairly cohesive. Additionaly, there's an awesome thread about it over and enworld, here. It's a bit long, but the lead developer for WLD is still posting and giving tips today.

I've also recently been reminded of my first computer RPG... Tunnels of Doom on the TI99/4. This is an amazing game for the time. 4 characters going down through a dungeon to rescue the king. It's timmed, with auto mapping, multiple levels, and a combat style that wouldn't be seen again until Ultima III.

You can download emulators and cartidges for the ol' TI99 at http://www.99er.net/.

What suprised me is that it was the same programer who did a TI version of Hunt the Wumpus, which was the game I had really been looking for. I figured I should be looking for games for my grandson to start playing as he get's old enough. Anyway, if you're looking for a good updated version of HtW, check here. He's also doing a remake of Tunnels of Doom.

Till next time...

Sum of it's parts

2006-03-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&ArticleID=464

So, they think the graphics are prety, but I have a problem with any reviewer that says:

"Morrowind was Bethesda Softwork's first game in the Elder scroll series, followed by the expansion packs Tribunal and Bloodmoon."

No... Arena was. Followed by Daggerfall. And then there was a middle game between Daggerfall and Morrwind. I'm 2 sentances in, and already I have to throw out this review for any sort of informed opinion.

I think part of my problem with Morrowind was the same problem I had with Alpha Centauri. All the parts were good, the graphics were great (for the time), and the interaction was beyond what should have been expected.... but....

The game itself fell flat. A few moments in and you'd get this feeling that you'd seen it all before. The new frontier doesn't have a 'story' behind it that ends up truely feeling compelling, and with no history to fill in using our own experiences or imagination, the little things we move around our screens don't compel us with any feelings.

Sometimes falling back on almost cliche creatures puts something into a game no code could. It's ok to bring in one or two new things, or drop something tried and true, but massive deviations give you an initial WOW, but quickly fade as you detach from a world that simply doesn't have any feelings.

Which brings me back to the Elder Scroll series. I'm going to feel like a total hypocrite as I won't be buying Oblivion any time soon. When it hits the discount bin, maybe. But if swords and armor are the only touchstones to my clasic orc/goblin/dragon motif I've called fantasy these many years, then it would simply be a waste of money.

The parts are good, and I love moving the game pieces, but the pieces need to move me.

Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO)

2006-01-23T08:22:00.000-08:00

"I was the only one in our party strong enough to turn the valve and open the poritculis guarding the crates and barrels in the alcove. As the iron bars lurched up, I steped forward to investigate the contents of the boxes.

Near the floor, behind a spiderweb, I noticed a metal grill that I hadn't seen in any other alcove. I stoped to try and figure out whether it was a trap or not. Before I could say anything, our newest member (the theif of all people) rushed into the alcove.

Which is where we found out I was right. It was a trap. I got a facefull of acid, which thankfully did not get him.

Unfortunately, the other 6 grills I hadn't noticed yet did.

The last member of our party sat staring at our corpses wondering how she was going to get out without help."

Ok. For the record, I knew it wouldn't be 'bad'.

That said, I didn't think it would be 'great'.

I was wrong.

Before I go any further, let me tell you that DDO is an online game, where you play with other people. If this doesn't apeal to you, it's still possible to play, it just isn't nearly as much fun.

Now, on with the main part.

First, combat, is fun. Even for someone like me who prefers turn based strategy to RTS. Combat is fun. I almost never play a fighter in an RPG because it ends up boiling down purely to my stats. They're either good enough to win, or they aren't, which from a play point, is borring. Especially considering most games label the difficulty of every area your in, or creature you face.

But DDO isn't that way. Tactics blended with some low end twitch skills will change your fighters life expectence greatly. In other words, you actually have to fight. You have to DO something, and not just stand there.

Now, don't let twitch scare you. While it makes a huge difference (and can make the difference between life and death) the frenetic running and swinging I'm watching most people do, simply isn't necesairy. It doesn't require hair trigger reflexes, or constant movement. Seeing a big attack comming and jumping out of the way, knowing when to block with a shield, or tumbling around and fighting are a 'help'. They make a difference, but they're a 'plus' not a requirement.

On the other side of that coin, I had the "joy" of adventuring with a group of people who just rushed everything. While there were enough of them to succeed most encounters, it was far more costly than it needed to be.

But that's a side note to what really turned me on.

What really has me excited about the game are thieves. For the first time ever, I feel like I'm playing a thief. Searching for traps, disabling them, picking locks, I feel theify.

You have to change your combat tactics as a thief. You'll be facing the same creatures a fighter would face, but you're not going to have his hp or armor. So where possible AVOIDING them is the key. You'll still get xp, it's not about killing everything in the room. A refreshing change.

Every class had that sort of different style, that really made me feel like I had to play differently. In other RPG's the game's classes feel more like a tint to the screen as opposed to what it should feel like, a different style of play.

Also, 'uber' gear, (AKA overpowered equipment) isn't a problem (yet, but then I only made it to level 2, equivilent of level 6 in most games I've played). You could probably play the whole thing through with starting equipment (though it would be tough).

The game has two hurdles to overcome if it's going to be very successful:

1) Content. The dungeons are 'fixed' so to speak. So, you'll almost always know where and what's happening if you've been there before. Eventually walkthroughs will come out, and there will be a 'path of least resistance' through the game. I have no solution for this, other than to keep piping content into it. And with the quality they've put in so far, that, I fear, is going to be rough.

2) The other players. DDO isn't like any previous game I've played. I love almost everything about the game (see below), but I also have tastes evolved from over 26 years of playing videogames. I need a little challenge, and to truely suprise and captivate me means breaking from the norm enough to be suprising, without drifting off into some LSD infused halucination. Younger players will probably not like DDO because of it's difficulty. Older players may not like the 'twitch' aspect of it (no matter how downplayed it is).

What I'd like to see added:

Honestly, housing/banking is the biggest thing for me. Something I like to do as a MMO'er is collect. Collecting in these games is a game too. I want to keep a set of the ancient daggers from one of the first missions. I'd like to keep all my starting equipment so I can remenis about where I came from now that I have uber gear.

It would be nice to have a little section of the world that I have control over. Something that I could make my own.

And that's it. Otherwise, keep it up.

I go round and round about crafting. But looking at it again, it really wouldn't add much to the game.

New Post

2006-01-19T13:21:00.000-08:00

I've been promising I'm going to do more with the blog. I should, I mean, now that work doesn't consume 80 hours a week, I should do that.

But I haven't been into games lately. Not since Civ 4.

Don't get me wrong, the game is awesome. Civ always has been.

But it doesn't run on my system.

Let me rephrase that...

I can't run Civ the way I want on my system. When I play on a huge world (which is the only way I play), the game crashes after I expose a good portion of the map.

So, I'm not buying any new games, because that's money away from a new PC (any suggestions on a build, leave a comment).

Until then, I'm playing some truely, old school games.

First up, AD&D Misty Mountain for Intellivision. You can find the rom and emulator on the net. It takes a little looking, but it's out there. This game is awesome. You run around randomly built dungeons looking for tools to get to the misty mountain and gather two pieces of the crown. There are audio and visual clues to let you know what is in a room, and, well, that's it.

Sadly, it's fun. Atleast for me.

Also, I'm playing the Legend of Zelda. No, the first one. I never finished it and always thought I should. So, I'm in dungeon 8, and almost finished.

When looking for a map for Zelda online, I found a map for Pitfall. So, I may go back and do that.

If I've only got a few minutes, NetHack is eating away at my time. I found that at a site called Abandonia.

If you're into old school games (especially X-Com, which should be required before you leave school), Abandonia is the place to be. If a copy of it is available for download they have it, as well as a link to DosBox, a way for you to play those old Dos Games you miss so much.

In contrast to everything I just said, tonight I'm going to try DDO. I got on the billing stress test, so I want to go on and see how it plays. I'm hoping for good things. I'll let you know.

Later...

Civ 4

2005-11-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/civilizationiv/review.html

That's a good rundown of some of the main changes... but...
Ok, there's this civics thing, that can give you different ways to handle your government. Slavery, Caste system, etc. It's 5 catagories, each with 5 options (the base, no bonus, and 4 different bonuses depending on which you use). The options open up as you develop techs.

Religion is still kinda growing on me. I don't have a handle on it yet.

Resources (gold, stone, etc) are only active when you improve them.
There's a new improvement cottage, which upgrades to hamelt, then something else, etc... which adds a $ token to the square. Roads don't seem to do that anymore. I need to verify first though.

Everything you need to understand your city and it's updates is visible from the main screen, you don't need to go in to city view to see how things are going, and which squares are being worked is shown there on the main screen through subtle animations. It sounds hard to follow, but quickly in you get the hang of it.

Being a pacifist doesn't get you out of maintaining an army. The enemy thinks you're weak and has a grudge, BAM war. Deal with it hippie.

But that's not to say you can't have a peacful game, it just takes more work than it did before.

Back to land improvements... just because you have a city with good production doesn't mean that's the best place to build your wonder. Wonders seem to get bonuses if you have a resource being worked in the city. IE Stonehenge had a +20% bonus to be built if stone was in the area. I remember seing one for Marble as well.

Units and advancement. I don't see a defense rating for units yet. I may be missing it but it's possible it's not there. I do see a little flexed arm with a number, and a couple feet with a number. One is obviously strength and the other movement. The HP remaining for the unit are shown by how many little guys are standing there.

Ok, advancement. When your unit gets promoted it's not just a flat improvement, "I'm a spearman but better", kinda thing. Instead you get to pick HOW they improve. Maybe you want to make your swordsman city raiders, so they get a +20% when attacking a city. Now you'll probalby want to assign that spearman a +20% against melee attackers to defend your city. So it won't be ideal to raid the enemy, but it will hold your city better. So even troops have more strategy to them.

Settelers and workers no longer lower your city size, instead, you just take a growth hit while you produce them.

Graphically it's a big step up from 3, but it still maintains that grid style game play. So it feels familiar, but you know you've got a lot to learn before you're good at it.

So, here we have a very strong contender for game of the year.

PC's and Copy Protection

2005-10-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

We've got a problem here.

Unlike PS2, Xbox, Intellivision, etc... PC's don't handle copy protection very well.

You see, they're not propriatary. So, a PC's configuration may, or may not, work with a protection scheme.

This is agrivated by the fact that it's easier to distribute a PC crack then a console one.

But there are little things like, fair use, backups and the desire to not scratch the hell out of my CD from use and shuffling that are legitimate uses. Or, in the case of one game I have, simply owning a copy of NERO and/or having my digital camera attached kicked me out of my game.

Obviously a boycot of games won't work, because then they'll just point out that PC games are dying (don't expect consol users to join the boycott), and stop making our games all together. They've been claiming this for a while, and won't see what's really happening.

Continuing to strip games of their protection only reinforces their arguments. So we loose by just pushing the point.

Giving in and taking it means we keep having issues because they won't know there is an issue.

Whining sounds like we want to copy games (which should be ok, it's the distribution that's an issue), and the louder we whine, the more it will seem like they're protections are working.

So, I'm at a loss. Can't stay here, can't go home.

What's even more frustrating is that the protection isn't even a speed bump to anyone who's actively trying to crack it. Only legitimate users suffer by either thwarting them entirely, or forcing them to go to a warez site and begin the path down the dark side.

If anyone with any influence is reading this, follow what I'm saying. I don't want to sell your stuff, I just want it to work with mine.

Nostalgia

2005-09-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

Recently I made this post over at the NWN2 forums.

First, let me say this:

I am a gamer. A true, I've dedicated my life to it, often at the expense of 'real' things like school, or work, honest to god, gamer.

FPS, RTS, RPG, MMO, PnP, Solitare, Chess, Monopoly, online, off-line, if it's cards, dice or chits (the three of you laughing can stop now, since you probably still have your mud die). I love them all.

Let me start by dismissing a myth.

Role Playing Games have nothing to do with the story.

I'd like to repeat that because it's vaugely important.

Role Playing Games are not now, nor should they ever have been about the story.

They're about playing a character, and dealing with their reactions and interactions in a fictional setting. STORY tends to push them (meaning the characters) to the background, water down the experience, etc. When you look back at all these connected stages of a good game you have a story, but the story itself, is nothing but a happy accident.

Want proof?

Ultima VII.

Go on, what was the story of Ultima VII? You can tell me the setting, you can tell me what was happening in the game world, but you can't tell me the 'story'.

What was the story in Diablo II? You can tell me that. Because even with some random side things to do, it was a very linear, one way to win, connect the dots STORY. Which character you played, how you talked to townfolk, etc, was laid out in advance, and you played the parts between the lines of the story. But what your character did, didn't really matter.

What old school gamers complain about, when you take another stat away, or reason to roll the dice, is that you're taking away an aspect of that character's persona. Like removing the mole from Cindy, the difference between you and the next character became a little less, and the reason to share the story that's come to be your character has faded away. After decades of taking things about because they're hard has reduced
'role playing' to reading a book while having blob a hit blob b for x damage.

Those stupid little things we old gamers complain about like, food, money types, or carying 5 sets of plate mail seem silly. It's a game after all. "It's meant to be fun, not hard."

No. Not realy.

There was once a golden rule of game development: Easy to learn, difficult to master.

Now, it's easy to learn, easy to master. We don't want people spending to long on a game, because they won't buy your next one. You know the one where the next point haird, sexually ambigious 12 year old boy with an oversized sword is saving the world from a demon.

Role Playing is stats. Very, very much so.

The situations in the world, give us a reason to use those stats. That's the setting.

The openness of the world, gives those stats a chance to be used, and help make our character feel like something different. Those are the chapters.

How we react with our stats and character becomes a story.

Now if you'll excuse me, it's snowing. Which means it's time to walk up hill to my friendly local game shop (FLGS).

So, if you don't know NWN2 is on it's way, shame on you.

But I think it's worth repeating that games are getting dumber, and that is a Bad Thing.

The first against the wall...

2005-09-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

I fear we're about to have a revolution in gaming.

And not in the good way.

More and more developers are growing weary of the media giants forcing them into certain development standards, motiffs and work environments.

Some are encouraging the industry to sell out, and take what they can get from hollywood, while others plead us to not go gentle into that good night.
I, myself, am torn. I look back fondly at the giant manuals, reams of graph paper, and almost non existant graphics that games used to have, and were able to hold my attention for MONTHS. I remember spending over a year trying to find every last piece of a puzzle for "Deathlord".

Yet, when I go to put those games back on my PC, I feel this sense of being underwhelmed. With games like Warcraft, Age of Empires, or Battlefield 1942 it's hard to look at chess as a comparison for a war. Icons moving across a grid just doesn't capture the sensation that 30 mounted troops marching against a battalion of spearmen does.

But we are loosing out to media giants, that want us to play games in our living rooms on propriatary systems, that they can force us to upgrade more often.

The number of game titles is dropping, rapidly, while the number of gamers is growing. Look at your local software store, if you can find it still, and see what I mean. Gamestop just bought EB, and previously, they had purchased Babbages, which had purchased Software Etc (or was that last one the other way arround).

The geek centric store is going away, and our games are being replaced by action figures, Yu-Gi-Oh cards, and quick play, never loose your place games that center around a sexually ambiguous 12 year old boy, whit pointy hair and a sword twice his size.

Because it sells to the kids.

But the age of your average gamer isn't 16 anymore. It's more like 26, and climbing as our parents die off. The average age of a Neverwinter Nights player is 35. (Yeah, supprised me too). The point is, it's not a juvinile market, and we're letting them make it one. We need to stand up for ourselves.

I think the developers are about to do so themselves. You can only take so much before you just say "ENOUGH!" Forcing to change systems, unheard of development cycles (under a year for a fresh IP with new content?), and having to drone through the same old crap again, isn't just borring for us to play, it's borring to make.

But risk is bad in business, and profit is good. A small profit off a sure bet, keeps you in the bussiness, while a loss, no matter how small, on a great idea, will drive you out.

What can we do?

1) Wait for price drops. One of the issues facing developers is that if the publisher doesn't see profit immediately, the title goes off the shelf, and away. Buy increasing the amount of games you buy in the second run, publishers will understand that there is a viable market out there of people waiting for the release to calm down.

2) Read reviews. Investigate your game before you buy it. But not in a review mag/site that earns it's revenue through gaming advertisements. Believe it or not many slant the reviews based on who's advertising in them. Epinions, or any site with user reviews is a far better concept of how good/bad a game really is.

3) Get involved in the pre-release community. Most upcomming games have boards and means of contacting the developers directly. If you find out a game is comming out soon, go to the board, read what's happening, and then cut the hype in half for a more accurate picture. After lurking for a week or two, post your ideas, concepts and suggestions. Here is a perfect chance for you to start organizing what you want from the ground up.

4) Don't be affraid to take a chance on a sleeper game or on a game that really bends the rules. Yes you should wait until it drops well in price, but the attempts at people improving and remaking X-Com is not because it recieved critical acclaim, it's because people took a chance on it and found out it was a really good game.

5) Don't buy HYPE games. Catwoman springs immediately to mind. Movie tie ins are almost exclusively bad. (Lord of the Rings: Return of the King being the noteable exception).

6) Build your own. Seriously, get involved. Dorm/Bedroom game development is dead. Dorm/Bedroom MOD development is a great way to push the boundaries. Most good developers know that a healthy mod community keeps their game on the shelves, and will provide you the tools to make those mods.

7) Don't settle. If something sucks, review it. If it's great, review it. Big name publishers are always going to try and make "Me Too" games. Small time publishers will do so to try and get their first hit. You helping increase or decrease a games sales are one way you can have a hand in stearing the industry.

Everyone gets a vote in america, regaurdless of Age, Race, or Nationality. The only name on the ballot is "George Washington". So vote, just do so wisely.

Not Quite Dead

2005-08-18T07:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, just a quick hi to everyone. Sorry I haven't made any posts in almost a year, needed the time to kinda get my home life in order.

Fired, Hired, Homeless, Home Owner, it's been busy.

Currently working some ideas to kick start this bad boy up again.

AG

Id, ego and the Super Id.

2004-08-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's supposed to be super ego, but with Doom3 just hitting shelves I thought I should fan the flames of vicious rumors of the super company, Id.

Id software has already liscensed out the next Quake and Wolfensine games... and they're in production.

Additionally, they've started a new IP line that is only in the earliest stages of development.

Any news I find, I'll spew out.

City of Heroes: A tale of two games

2004-08-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

It was the best of games.

It was the worst of games.

There are literally millions of costume combinations giving you the feel of distinctly different characters. And the ability to customize your powers through training power ups, relics, etc is a nice way to feel in control of your character.

There are only 5 classes, each with a hand full of selections of powers that lock you into a path for the life of the character. Costumes also suffer from capes being handed out as a reward to those that make level 20. Many of my characters won’t use them even then, but the others that would have wanted them feel flat until I can get them there.

The game was amazingly well balanced, and no class, or power, seemed to really out shine the others.

While some powers had a lot of character, others just seemed like more of the same, and ran together.

Enemies in the street we’re the same size as you. Not feeling silly fighting rats, or bunnies, or snakes. It actually made you feel competent.

After so many levels you stopped getting xp for fighting low level thugs. You’d be tempted to run past a lady getting robbed because she wasn’t being attacked by high enough thugs.

The graphics are gorgeous. Blurring the line between hyper realistic and a 3d comic book.

The lack of damage to passing vehicles and property is disappointing. I wish I could throw a car, or blow up a gas station while accidentally fighting a zombie or some such.

Missions were instanced, so only people you invited along could help you. You could always get your hands on one, so there was almost never a need to camp, or just hunt, and all the missions seemed to tell a little bit more about each group of villain’s goals.

Some of the missions are put in places that are not scaled to the level of the hero. Having a level 2 character need to run past level 6 thugs doesn’t go over well, even if the thugs inside are only level 1 and 2.

Finally, the number of people on, who are genuinely nice is amazing. Some are really having fun with the over the top superhero thing.

That many superheroes can detract from the feeling of one man saving the world, though only in the smallest way possible.

All in all, I can't stop playing the game. Things scale well, people are still relatively nice for a MMORPG. I have to give it an 8.7 out of 10. It's not a must have, but definately a recomendation for anyone looking to spend some time on line in a new and innovative game.

No R.O.U.S.'s?

2004-07-14T11:47:00.000-07:00

Veteran Actor Cary Elwes, star of The Princess Bride, to be the voice of The Bard!

But, I'm probably getting ahead of myself. Let me start with this:

Brian Fargo, pioneer in Computer RPG's and founder of Interplay, has started a new company (InXile entertainment, the X makes it 'X'tream) and is retaking two of the franchises that put Interplay on the map, "the Bards Tale" and "Wasteland".

For those of you who didn't just wet your pants with excitement, allow me to paraphrase some info from the man himself about 'the Bards Tale'.

First, he wants to eliminate the rat hunt. Anyone who's played RPG's in the last 10 years knows what I'm talking about. You spend your first few levels fighting some oversized rodent or insect before you get into the real meat of the game.

I can't even begin to say how happy this makes me. I'm for believability as much as the next guy, but rat hunts have always felt like a contrived way to pad the game in the front. Enough. Use goblins, or something that makes me feel good about myself. See my upcomming City of Heroes review for more on this. (Yeah, I know I promised a while ago, it's comming. I swear).

Next, he wants you to be able to get your ass kicked.

You heard me.

Granted, he didn't say it like that. It's more along the lines of seeing something you simply can't get past until your better at the game. Most likely that something will be a Big Ass Monster (tm) Maybe you'll beat it at level 5, Maybe 10, Maybe it'll be level 15, but you'll tell your friends it was level 10. It won't be that the world is deliberately roped off until the developers deem you worthy, simply something there to make getting to it feel like an accomplishment, but you can keep comming back and trying when you think you're good enough.

Again, this makes me most happy. It's good to see a game have these sorts of chalenges, goals to work your character up towards.

Next. No over the top "You're son of a god and you have to save the world from certain anihilation" crap. You're just an adventurer in it for the money, glory, and women. The dialog is supposed to come off as someone who's just as sick of the stereo types as we are. MMM good. I don't think this means there won't be some overall plot/story/way to be a hero. But it's a refreshing to see such a blatent attempt to break all the RPG stero types.

As I hear more about this game, I'll report back.

Ulitma X Odessy

2004-07-03T05:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting as much. Real life, and that job that provides for rent have been keeping me hopping.

Anyway, a little update for those 3 people who cared about Ultima X Oddessy: It is officially canceled.

For those who were supprised I have some other news: Duke Nukem Forever still isn't out.

As for me, I should be posting a full review of City of Heroes some time this weekend.

SLI Reloaded

2004-06-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

They say everythiy old is new again. ArsTechnica, along with several other review sites, are reporting that Nvidia has retooled 3DFX's SLI to be used in their Geforce 6800 series. It lets you put two 6800 vid cards in your computer, and hopefully get double the performance. Nvidia is claiming up to 87% improvement by going to two cards, which means 50% will probably be more typical. The question is, how many people are willing to shell out an extra $300-$500 dollars to get an extra 30fps in Doom3? While I don't think many people will actually use it, it could end up selling a lot of cards. They only have to think they'll eventually use it. And who knows, while not worth it now, it may make a worthy upgrade path. Six months from now when 6800's drop to 200/300 dollars, it may be a tempting way to extend the life of your gaming rig.

Pirates Development Diary

2004-06-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting link on the Sid Meier's Pirates website to a development diary by the Co-lead artist on the project. You can read it here.

Not only is it a good indication of the overall look and feel of the game, it's also a look into what's involved in making a game from an art standpoint.

Here's an interesting quote:
"Sid's world isn't gritty, realistic, mosquito-infested, or scurvy-afflicted. Teeth are generally clean and intact, blood is rarely seen, and no one dies. In Sid's Caribbean, it's always sunny and high noon. The women (even the "plain" governor's daughters) are beautiful and the heroes are, well, heroic."

I'll probably play it anyway, although not being able to give the governor's daughter syphilis is a huge blow to my enthusiasm.

If they should bar wars, please let these Star Wars stay

2004-06-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

I cancelled my Star Wars Galaxies account. The decision came quickly when my friends decided to cancel their accounts. The lesson is that no matter how much I like your game, if I can't play with my friends, I'm not going to play.

What it boiled down to is that there was no feeling of accomplishing things in a group in Star Wars Galaxies. We would all log in decide what we were going to do. One night we did the rebel missions on Yavin. Everyone else had already started them so I spent an hour doing delivery missions. Delivery Missions. Over and over. Go to way point, talk to dood, go back to rebel base. The monotony was broken by my friends who would occasionally message everyone and request help on a mission. We helped. Then, an hour later, we were doing the same missions. There was no feeling that we were doing things together - we were just getting though the missions, asking for help when we needed it.

When I hit that cancel account button, it got me thinking. The best times I ever had in a MMORPG was Ultima Online. Maybe it's because it was new and everything was exciting, but I don't think so. There were NO missions in Ultima Online. You just logged in and did stuff until you were done doing stuff, then you logged out. We would all log in, meet at the house, then go crawl around in dungeons together. The total unstructured environment was very conducive to group play.

I just hope upcoming games provide both sides of the coin. Structure and missions are great for games, no two ways about it. It provides you with a concrete means to develop your character and adds plot to the game. On the other hand, group play is probably more important. I want to do things with my friends and feel like I'm really doing things, not just running through some mission factory over and over again.

Getting 6 to Half-Life

2004-06-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

In recent news the evil fiends behind the theft of Half-Life 2 code have been arrested. Details are still sketchy, but confirmation is there.

On the flip side, I think it's interesting how many gamers were outraged that the code was stolen when, odds are, a good chunk of them were going to share a copy with their friends anyway.

But apparently it was gamers that helped hand over some of the most important clues to the aprehension of the thieves. Using their mad gaming skilz they tracked down the culprits in "a matter of days" after the anouncement.

Just remember, don't piss off a geek. We've got nothing better to do.

Comics and Gaming

2004-06-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

The web comic PVP is currently running a story arc based on City of Heroes. The comic's prety good on any given day, and worth a look.

Demo Weekend

2004-06-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well, after finally getting around to upgrading my card from an ATI 7500 to a GForce 5700 I have to say I'm happy with the results.

What I wasn't happy with is that for some reason the ABIT motherboards don't seem to always get along with the ATI cards. Just a little FYI for those in my situation.

Anyway, an evening of frustration and twice cutting my fingers on a spinning CPU fan (don't ask, it's as stupid as you think), I got to try out some new games with my new card. Here's a quick rundown of each:

Thief III
First off, I finally got to try the Thief III demo. While the graphics are much improved, I did get stuck twice in the training mission on the terrain, and the controls seemed sluggish. Of course, so did the far cry demo the first time I replayed it with my new video card, so it may be that. All in all, they tweaked what was Thief and made it a little more interesting. Picking locks is actually something you have to do with the mouse (it's not hard, but it adds some flavor to the game). If you played through the first one and are looking for more, you might want to give the demo a try. But just from the demo I don't see this as a must have.

UT2004
Tried the demo out this weekend as well. Fun FPS, it's interesting that they give you some different vehicles to run around in, and they all handle differently while being balanced. Some even need two players to operate all the pieces at the same time. The demo only provides one level though, and considering that it bosts over a hundred levels for the full game, you think another 2 or so wouldn't have killed them. I, personally, have stopped liking the UT type of game play. While it's a fast paced deathmatch game, the health powerups etc have gotten old for me. I prefer the Counterstrike style of game play.

America's Army
I'd really like to tell you more about this one. The shooting range is nice, but the login server has been down for maintenance for 4 days, so I have no idea what the actual game is like. Pass until it's up and running.

Battlefield 1942
Came with the video card. Nice, all video cards should give you something to help show off your new eye candy. Anyway, AI is poor, I've seen the bots just standing there while I walk past them, getting stuck on buildings, or repeatedly jumping in and out of their tanks. The multiple vehicles are nice, but I find the planes useless as you can't really see any of the controls working to know your altitude etc. Am I close to the ground? Or am I ok... boom. Nope. Close to the ground. It is interesting that even the first person has the feel of an online game, and that while you go through several battles of WWII, it's not actually a 'story' mode. It's just different settings. Different beautiful settings. I'll do a full review later, even though those who are going to buy it already have it, and the rest of us, just won't care.

That's my wrap up for the weekend.

Pirates!

2004-06-02T09:24:00.000-07:00

I'm moving this week and part of moving is going through your stuff. My Special Lady and I were in the basement pouring over our belongings. The air in the basement is dank and musty and everything smells like old cardboard. The Goodwill pile was growing and it was growing painfully. My collection of the worlds crappiest Pez dispensers - in the pile. I was trying to take a zen buddhist approach to giving away all my belongings (my cherished crap I stuffed in the storage locker two years ago and forgot about) but it still hurt.

"What about this?" she asked. There was no malice in her voice but when I looked up I snapped into fight or flight mode. It was my origional copy of Sid Meier's Pirates. It was complete and unmolested. The map was in the box and nearly flawless. Both the 3.5 and the 5.25 disks were included. This was a thing of beauty, a rare find from the golden age of Goodwill when we bought Atari games and pong machines on an almost weekly basis. You don't just GIVE AWAY an origional copy of Sid Meier's Pirates.

Right now I'm listening to the Pixies at work and writing this article. I had my Internet access shut off yesterday at home for the move. Behind the music I can hear the periodic crashing of waves and the creeking of planks. The sounds are coming from here.

It's the website for the upcoming re-release of Sid Meier's Pirates. Sid Meier is one of the best known names in gaming and rightly so. He's the super-genius behind the Civilization series. Sid Meier has claimed more hours of my life than drinking and huffing airplane glue combined. Some company called Firaxis or something is also involved. SID MEIER, PEOPLE!

Pirates was always one of my favorite games. Pirates main attraction for me was the variety in game play. You had exploration, ship to ship combat, international intrigue, sword fights, looting, everything that makes pirates so awesome it hurts. Things like wind direction, nationality, fleet size, and your natural abilities all came into play.

The re-release of Pirates hopes to maintain and expand upon the things that made the origional so bad-ass. Ship combat and dueling have been greatly improved. The dueling in the origional was especially simplistic. I routinely trounced almost every captain I encountered by mashing attack over and over again as fast as I could. The developers also said they wanted to maintain the open-ended story of the origional, allowing players to choose their own destiny and story.

From what I've seen, graphics look great. They're the perfect blend of historical accuracy and sylistic embellishment. Here's what Sid Meier had to say about improvements to the origional Pirates:

"We have added many new story elements and quests, and have significantly upgraded the dueling and ship battle sequences - including the ability for players to use nearby objects when dueling opponents. Players will have access to many different weapons and types of cannon-shots, giving them even more options and control. Land battles are also being revisited and enhanced. The addition of more units for the player to fight with and against will certainly provide even more strategic elements and depth. All-new action sequences have also been created. Players will now be able to sneak in and out of town and can even try to charm the Governor’s daughter in dancing sequences!"

I'm all for being able to throw stuff at people (throwing stuff at people has been a gaming tradition since Donkey Kong) but the jury is still out on the dancing sequences. I hope this isn't one of those "press the buttons to the rhythm" mini-games that make me want to punch people in the face untill my arm gets tired. Personally I would rather kidnap the Governor's daughter, tie her to the mast and throw bottles at her, but that's just me.

There isn't a lot of information available now about Pirates and I doubt I'm #1 on the Atari/Firaxis preview list but I'll keep an eye out for exciting developments.

Death of the Arcade Age

2004-05-28T07:33:00.000-07:00

I recently read that arcades died because the home market was able to match them in graphics, so people didn’t need to head out to get their fix anymore. They could stay home; play with their friends, etc.

Pshaw I say. A false enemy. Home consoles were all the rage in the 80’s and they sold like crazy, they didn’t die because the graphics weren’t as good as the arcades. They almost home systems died because PC’s started to out power them as gaming machines, and allowed games to go beyond eat dots, shoot aliens, simple games, to intricate stories with evil wizards, lounge lizards, and a great underground empire.

Arcades have always been the home of smack talk. They were the first “net game server” and need to be looked to as we go boldly through our internet age of gaming. In an arcade, you’d play against a machine and, if you did better than others at your arcade, put your name/initials on the machine for all to see, and try to beat. High-score boards were ladder systems, and occasionally, arcades even did prize entry contests with certain machines.

Head to head play through fighting games, racing games, etc gave an added edge to the competition and allowed for that immediate satisfaction of beating someone.

So what killed the arcade?

Story based games. I figured it out while I was goofing around with the MAME emulator. I still go back and play Time Pilot, Pac Man, Space Invaders, etc. But games with a story, with an end, with an objective… Those I stop playing the moment I complete the story. I’m done. It wasn’t a competition against Bill, or Joe, it was against the machine, and I won, and now I’m done. If you can’t get another competition out to me before I’m done, then I’ll find somewhere else to spend my time, and I may not come back.

Games at the end felt they needed a story to compete with the home market.

Here’s a hint, they don’t. Don’t believe me? PopCap Games should help prove the point. Simple internet games, fun to play, simple objective, and yet they do just fine. It’s always about beating your own last score, and no visible plot line to speak of.

I don’t want to sound like I don’t like plot or stories in my games; I do, on my computer. In my arcade, I don’t have 3, 4, 10 or 500 hours to try and work my way through a story when I can’t be guaranteed any sort of saving will be there next time I get back.

Even the trend towards story games wasn’t enough to keep me out of the arcades; it was games like Doom and Duke Nukem. The first network games truly killed the arcade as a home to video game competition. Now I didn’t need to go anywhere to truly test myself against machines, players, etc. I could do it at 2 in the morning, without ever running out of quarters.

So what can we learn from this?

A couple simple points:

1) Home systems for stories / Arcade Games for fun.
2) Online games should take a cue for the original network, the arcade. MMORPG’s should have rankings for highest fame, most fame gained in a day, a week, etc. Something for the player to strive to beat or compete with other players, without having to against other players.
3) All Family fun centers should get a stock pile of old games for an archive section. Simple early games, some will play from nostalgia, others will play because the games were just fun.

Unfortunately, arcades aren’t coming back. It was never clearer to me then when I was teaching a couple kids how to play Ms Pac-Man the other day (Don’t ask, it involves bring your kids to work day, and I got volunteered to do this). One of them asked, “Hey you got the cherries! What do they do?”

“Um nothing. They just give you points.” I replied

“Points?” They both asked.

“Yeah,” I sighed “in my days we didn’t have power ups.”

It was a different time, when the game was the point, not what you got from doing it. It was almost zen….

Sequel from another developer?

2004-05-26T18:49:00.000-07:00

Eidos and Ion Storm picked up the rights to Thief III, released today.

While the graphics seem kicked up a notch, the trailer shows very similar gameplay to the originals, with a few new tricks.

The original packed some of the most open ended game play I've ever seen in a first person game. It's also worth noting that they deliberately chose NOT to put multiplayer in Thief 1 because they "wanted to prove you can make a good single player game." What we got was an entirely new direction in the genre and the phrase "First Person Sneaker". Yes, Tenchu and Metal Gear Solid were released the same year, but they (IMHO) did not have the same unvwavering empahsis on stealth that Thief did.

Unfortunately, there isn't a demo for download on their site (yet?), so if it packs the same punch as the original remains to be seen.

Reviews can be found at:
Gamespot

A healthier you through gaming.

2004-05-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge fan of DDR, or rythm games in general. Mostly because I have no rythm, but also because I've never liked "Simon Says" even with the hint of a beat behind it.

But here's some news that may appeal to some who aren't like me and don't consider lethargy a goal.

Far Cry: Review

2004-05-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard about Far Cry yet, then you can't be reading this because you obviously havne't been on the internet since it came out.

I got a chance to try the demo (and finished it, still wanting more), but have passed on the game until I can upgrade my video card. Using an ATI 7500 is just too painful for some things.

Anyway, my own video short commings aside, it's almost impossible to find someone that isn't just gushing over this game. Almost, but not quite...

Ars Technica actually gives a fair and balanc.... (oops. Don't want to get sued by Fox) an solid review of the game, hitting its low and high points. Seriously, a solid review.

My own view on the game?

I liked it. Wish I had a system that could really show case its absolutely gorgeous settings. The play was a good mix between scripted and random, and the weapons were fun. The environment is fairly maniplatable, and the AI is fair to good.

Additionally there is this slight "Duke Nukem"/Miami Vice vibe flowing through the whole game and that really makes me happy.

Stop on by Ars Technica for a full review of the game.